What's my maintanence level?

[iHateScreenNames]

Hi

I'm 5'6 250 lbs and I'm keeping under a 1800 calorie diet, but I fail to lose weight. I have do have a cheat day once a week, but because I'm not seeing results, I tend to go off the rails for a period of time. I'd like to start over because I'm not 100% sure what do and how to do it, so I figured someone here might be able to help. I keep hearing that I don't eat enough that's why I'm not losing fat/weight. But isn't is better to eat as less as you can while working out? I have my Fitbit Flex and I'm averaging 1500 steps per day. I do weight train a couple times a day as well.

I'm trying to have someone pinpoint what i'm doing wrong and any sample meal plans they recommend. When I stick to my diet, I plateau and I re-gain the weight quicker.... I'm sick and tired of this and I need something that will work and keep the weight off for good!

Thank you for reading and your input is greatly appreciated

[RaginCajun]

welcome! what is your BF? i do not think you are eating enough for starters. i think you should read the stickies in this section. also, post up a sample daily diet with macros for each thing you put in your pie hole. that way, you can see actually what you are eating and we can tweak it to get you where you should be. at 250lbs, if your BF was at 25%, then i would have your maintenance around 2800 cals. give us some info and we can guide you along.

[gbrice75]

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with RJ. In my experience, when people are obese (at 5'6 and 250lbs, you fit this description, unless you're carrying a ton of muscle, which I doubt given your post), they need to do very little to lose the initial bulk of weight.

If you're eating 1800 calories/day and not losing weight, it's not because you're eating too little.

I have do have a cheat day once a week, but because I'm not seeing results, I tend to go off the rails for a period of time.

I'm willing to bet this is your problem right here. For starters, I wouldn't have a cheat day once a week. Maybe down the road, when you've really made some good progress, but right now you need to lose weight. Wanna have a cheat meal once a week? Go for it, anything you want. A cheat day can negate an entire week of dieting.

Then, you go on to say you're not seeing results, so you go off the rails. Welcome to the hell that is yo-yo dieting. This can all be very simple for you:

1 - resistance training: don't worry about gaining muscle right now. Just train. At least 3 days a week. Opt for compound movements over isolation work.

2 - Cardio - do lots of it. Keep it fun, you don't have to walk/run and be bored. Jumping jacks, burpees, box jumps, step ups, plyo-squats ... the possibilities are endless, really.

3 - Eat Sensibly: Again, I wouldn't go nuts with trying to tweak the 'perfect' diet (which doesn't exist anyway). Eat 5-7 small meals/day (note: I'm not looking to debate several small meals vs. fewer larger ones with board members ... this is absolutely the way to go for a person who is very out of shape and simply looking to lose weight at this point), mainly consisting of lean proteins and veggies ... lots of veggies to fill you up. Opt to eat the majority of your starchy carbs around your workout window. Drink lots of water. LOTS of water.

Do this consistently for 3 months and I guarantee you'll see results.

PS - I was 5'11 @ 255lbs and dropped almost all the excess weight doing exactly what I laid out above, at less than 1800 cals/day. While I wouldn't recommend going quite THAT extreme (hindsight is 20/20), I'd be willing to bet 1800 cals/day is plenty for your goals.

[iHateScreenNames]

This is great stuff! Thank you guys very much! I will post my diet this week for some constructive criticism.... I will also put up pics so you can have a better idea what I'm working with. Much appreciated, gentlemen

[Times Roman]

Hi

I'm 5'6 250 lbs and I'm keeping under a 1800 calorie diet, but I fail to lose weight. I have do have a cheat day once a week, but because I'm not seeing results, I tend to go off the rails for a period of time. I'd like to start over because I'm not 100% sure what do and how to do it, so I figured someone here might be able to help. I keep hearing that I don't eat enough that's why I'm not losing fat/weight. But isn't is better to eat as less as you can while working out? I have my Fitbit Flex and I'm averaging 1500 steps per day. I do weight train a couple times a day as well.

I'm trying to have someone pinpoint what i'm doing wrong and any sample meal plans they recommend. When I stick to my diet, I plateau and I re-gain the weight quicker.... I'm sick and tired of this and I need something that will work and keep the weight off for good!

Thank you for reading and your input is greatly appreciated

You didn't mention your bf% so I plugged 25% in there considering your height and weight. Additionally, I'm going to qualify my analysis on the obvious flaw of the harris benedict formula, in that it uses total body weight instead of lean body mass to calculate TDEE.

All in YOUR estimated TDEE is 3500. Given the flaw of the formula, the higher your BF% the more magnification this flaw gets. But let's continue. Assuming a 1000 cal deficit, puts you at 2,500 cals a day. If the 25% bf estimate is close, then your "not to exceed" protein intake is 280 grams/day.

A couple of thoughs
1) I used a moderate activity level. If your level is significantly lower, then the TDEE calc would be lower
2) How confident are you that the cals/day you say you eat (1,800) is on average, accurate? It seems you should be losing significant weight at 1,800.
3) You fail to mention cardio as part of your effort. 45 mins a day (minimum) every other day (minimum) at between 50% and 80% of your max heart rate, oscillating up and down while. You heart rate should be no lower than 95 and no need to really go higher than 150 during this 45 minute period.

Now, you also didn't post up your diet.

You should be drinking water only. Period
Eat whole unprocessed foods. No candy, no booze/beer, no snickey snacks. Avoid sugar and artificial sweeteners.

Post up your daily nutrition plan including macros per meal and total macros per day. Include your estimated BF% and an approximate activity level.

And dump the damn fitbit flex and the 1500 steps a day. we all do steps a day. you need cardio, so stop fooling yourself.

Good luck!
---Roman

[iHateScreenNames]

Thanks for the feedback Roman! I'll post my meals from yesterday and today and my activity shortly. The spreadsheet is awesome! Thank you

[iHateScreenNames]

My Diet

Day 1

Meal 1: 2 scramble eggs, 4 turkey sausage links, cornbeef hash
Meal 2: Chicken and avocado Arepa (made with corn) 1/4 cup of brown rice and black beans
Meal 3: Grilled Chicken sandwich (6 inch) on ciabatta

[U]Day 2:[/U]

Meal 1: 1/2 cup egg white with broccoli and kale
Meal 2: 6 oz salmon steak (with skin) 1/4 cup brown rice and veggie stir fry
Meal 3: homemade Green Juice (kale, spinach, banana, celery, parsley, cilantro, black cumin seeds, flax seeds, and chia seeds)
Meal 4: Apple, 2 scoops whey protein
Meal 5: Cabbage sautee with 1/4 cup brown rice

**Meals are cooked with only 1 teaspoon on coconut oil**

Day 2: 45 min cardio (run/walk)
Chest/Tri (30 min)

Any feedback would be appreciated